Beaufort County Council approves new millage rate

Beaufort County Council confirmed the property tax rates budgeted in June, deciding Monday against a millage increase for debt service.

Instead, the county will transfer about $700,000 from its reserve fund to pay debt interest.

The move will still leave the county with cash reserves of about $4.5 million, according to Finance Committee Chairman Stu Rodman.

The council Monday approved a resolution setting millage rates of 40.21 for county operations, 4.57 for county debt and 2.76 for property purchases. Another resolution set millage rates of 90.26 for school operations and 26.0 for school debt.

It also established various millage rates for the five county fire districts, including the Bluffton Fire District at 19.67 for operations and 0.38 for debt service.

“These are the same millage rates we discussed in June,” Rodman said. “We should proceed without revisiting millage.”

However, Councilman Jerry Stewart reminded his colleagues a tax increase may be necessary in the future.

“I do not think it’s a good practice to take operating funds to finance debt, just like it’s not allowed to use debt for operations. It works both ways,” Stewart said.

“I know we’re committed to no tax increase across the board. We’re sort of at the nth hour now and I would hope that in the future we would take this up earlier,” he said.

“I understand it’s difficult, without raising taxes, to deal with it any other way. We’re already keeping things down to the bare bones,” Stewart said.

A mill for fiscal year 2012 is estimated to generate about $1.575 million in revenue, according to county Chief Financial Officer David Starkey.

The mill value translates to property taxes of about $10 per mill on a $251,000 house, the median value in Beaufort County, according to county Administrator Gary Kubic.

The council approved county and school district operating budgets in June. But it customarily doesn’t set the millage rate, which determines how much property tax is collected to pay for operations and debt service, until August when it has a better idea of assessed property values.

The 40.21 millage rate would generate about $72.3 million in ad valorem tax revenue for county operations. The remainder of the county’s $96 million operating budget would come from other revenue sources, Starkey said.

The school district’s 90.26 million millage rate would generate about $114.9 million for operating expenses.

A school district mill generates only about $1.234 million because primary homeowners, taxed at 4 percent for county operations, are exempt from school operations taxes. School districts, by state law, only collect taxes from second homes and commercial property.

School Board Chairman Fred Washington said the county school district has been hurt by a state-mandated property tax rollback to the tune of about $5.6 million since 2009.

“We will continue to face serious deficits in the future,” Washington said.

“We have cut a total of 169 positions, local jobs, and further reductions will be necessary,” he said.

“Despite these reductions, our district has demonstrated consistent gains in academic success,” he said.

“I urge you to find financing solutions for the good of our children,” Washington said. “The track that we’re on now dooms us to not be able to provide for the needs of the children of Beaufort County.”